Ceramic bodies may be used in a variety of applications, such as, for example, supports for catalysts for carrying out chemical reactions and as sorbents/filters for the capture of particulate, liquid, or gaseous species from fluids such as gas streams and liquid streams. Certain ceramic bodies, such as honeycombs, comprising activated carbon may be used as catalyst substrates or for the capture of heavy metals from gas streams. Some ceramic bodies may also be used for the capture of diesel or gasoline particulates.
Ceramic bodies may be manufactured by firing an unprocessed or “green” body. The green body may be enriched with pore formers, which may be carbon-based materials. During firing of the green body, the pore formers may be burned out, for example as carbon oxides, thereby generating porosity in the fired ceramic body. The amount of pore former added at the green stage may be increased to increase porosity, and uniform removal of the increased amount of pore former may affect the physical strength and long term performance of the ceramic body for certain applications.